Swedish food retailer and wholesaler Axfood posted a zero result after net financial items for 2000 after a proforma profit of SKr261m in 1999.
Axfood indirectly confessed internal problems were behind the fall in earnings, acknowledging conditions last year for the food retail industry had been more favourable than in many years.
Axfood said the poor result was due to problems within its Swedish Hemköp food chain and in its Spar Finland subsidiary. The Hemköp chain had been restructured and new management had been appointed both for Hemköp and Spar Finland in the fall of last year, the company said.
Profits in its wholesale operations in the Dagab unit fell to SKr222m from SKr240m a year earlier. Total group sales rose to SKr30.2bn from SKr29.1bn a year earlier.
By just-food.com correspondent based in Scandinavia
